Fabulous Fantasy for ALL! (Part 1 – younger readers)

~ your library friend – Xandi ~

I started reading fantasy books for many reasons, but I think that there are four fun reasons (and we’ll skip the part that there are usually horses involved) that make me LOVE fantasy books so much.

1. There is a LOT of adventure in most fantasy books.
2. There is usually a hero, dragon, or a princess involved – sometimes all three!!
3. Things get worse before they get better, usually complicated by anything magical, hopefully with lots of humor.
4. Most fantasy is based on a crazy “what if” question. (ie: What if kids went to wizard school?) to name a general example…

This is Part 1 of my Fantasy Finds: for ye younger readers…

Once upon a time, there were all sorts of fairytales…

…in a faraway land known as NonFiction. Please do not feel as though you need a map to get there! Most of our fairy tales and folklore live in the non-fiction section under call numbers 398 – 398.9 this is stretched out along 7 units of shelving. There are some real treasures to find there! Some of my favorites are: most things written by Margaret Read MacDonald and James Marshall, The Serpent Slayer by Katrina Tchana, and Behold – the Dragons! by Gail Gibbons.

Fantasy finds in picture books for youngest readers:

Lauren Child – The Princess and the Pea

There is a prince who must find a princess to marry – but he is looking for true love, and a certain… something. There is a princess who goes on a midnight ramble, but gets lost in a thunderstorm. Everyone is wonderfully polite (naturally) – but could they be TOO polite? Bother. Certainly a real princess would never be so rude as to mention a poor night’s sleep to her hosts! Find out if they live – well, you know…

Chris Wormell – George and the Dragon

If you like your dragons to breathe fire and terrify the county-side, this tale’s for you! What if this terrible dragon had a secret…and a new neighbor? Good thing for the princess that accidental heroes come in all shapes & sizes!

Tomie de Paola – The Knight and the Dragon

What if a knight and a dragon don’t know how to fight each other? It may be time to visit your local library! I love the back and forth illustrations, the fight scenes…and you’ll never guess WHO saves the day!!

Cornelia Funke and Kerstin Meyer – The Princess Knight

What happens when a princess spends all her time practicing to be a knight? Who will win her hand in marriage? My favorite parts of this story were the horsey parts and the stubborn princess parts!

Ian Lendler and Whitney Martin – An Undone Fairytale

This is a story about a pie baking princess, and her greedy stepfather – but the real hero is Ned! Poor Ned is the illustrator, and if you read too quickly…well, he’s just going to have to do his best to keep the action going! My favorite part is when the fire breathing pretzel does battle with some brave knights.

Kevin O’Malley and Carol Heyer and Scott Goto –

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude

What if a boy and a girl had to make up a fairy tale together? Lovely Princess Buttercup just cries and cries when the terrible ogre steals her ponies (NOT named Ralph)…she even spins straw into gold! Get a grip Princess Buttercup! Who will save the ponies? Will it be a brave knight…or a dude on a Harley? Will this story end happily ever after?

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